Of Breaches, Ambuscadoes
by wordslinger
Summary: At a winter holiday gathering Jellal runs into someone he never thought he'd see again and it taken aback by a little girl with familiar green eyes. Jerza. Miraxus. Part 5 of In Fair Verona. Complete.


_**Note: I've been sitting on this for a few weeks now. When I planned it out in my head it read much longer but it can't be forced. I have a few of these little ones I'm working on but this is the only one demanding life before Starboy is complete.**_

* * *

Before they'd even arrived at Mirajane's house, Jellal had a hundred questions on the tip of his tongue. Erza wouldn't be graduating from the university in Crocus for another nine months so the topic of moving in together wasn't something he wanted to saddle her with. He didn't want to clutter her mind with where they'd live or whether she actually _wanted_ to leave her residence at _Fairy Tail._ Laxus hadn't moved out even though Mirajane had an engagement ring on her finger. Of course, he hadn't quite graduated yet either. Eileen was more than happy to hand over most of the purchasing accounts and responsibilities, as well as pre-employment screenings to Mirajane – who no longer worked behind the bar and enjoyed a hefty raise in pay – but she wouldn't consider relieving any of the ropes to Laxus or Erza without a six year degree in business. Jellal, on the other hand had been employed at Magnolia General Hospital for two years... and he was antsy.

"You're pensive," Erza said in a quiet voice that still managed to rattle him out of his thoughts.

"Am I?"

"I can feel it." The snow fell evenly and Jellal got lost in the way the flakes drifted in and out of the beams of his headlights. "Hey," she cut in again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He glanced over at her and smiled. She didn't let up.

"Tell me what's going on in that head of yours. They don't teach mind reading at university." Jellal laughed and reached for her hand. He kissed the tips of her fingers before turning his attention back to the road. Erza sighed contentedly. "I miss Magnolia. It gets too cold in Crocus. The whole city is probably buried in snow right now."

"It's too humid here for that and I'm glad. People are even worse drivers in the snow. Last week some lunatic went skidding into a bus stop shelter because his tires were bald and he thought snow created traction."

Erza rolled her head to the side and he could feel her eyes on him. "Are you happy?"

"I am. But I'll be even more happy when you come home."

"Soon. Mid-summer, I think. Mom wants to throw us into it and take a two month vacation. I'm looking forward to the action. School is boring."

The urgent little voice in the back of Jellal's mind that railed against better sense leapt forward. "Is Laxus staying at the hotel? Or –"

Erza laughed. "No, he's moving in with Mira. I can't say I disagree with his philosophy of separating business from family, all things considered." She didn't expand any further and Jellal _itched._ "How's Lucy handling things?"

"She's a natural," Jellal snorted. "She was born for this, I guess. I don't think she'll ever leave _Love and Lucky_ and my mom is happy to have her there. It's like a girl's club now."

"Why haven't you moved out?"

Jellal pulled into Mirajane's driveway and hesitated. The heater still blasted warm air on his fingers. "I haven't really thought about it."

"Liar."

"Erza –"

"Let's talk about it tomorrow, okay? I can tell when you're sitting on your words. Tomorrow you can spit it all out."

"I don't want to add to your headache," he whispered. "I don't want to nag you about you and me stuff when you're already worked up over graduation and whatever your mom is planning."

Erza sighed and reached over to pull the keys out of the ignition herself. "When did you get so self-conscious, Jellal? Nothing about you and me is a headache."

"I don't want you to think I'm impatient." He turned in the driver's seat to face her as best he could. "I just get itchy sometimes."

"You can itch it all day tomorrow. For now, I think you need a drink and food. It's cold out here."

The snow crunched under his shoes and Erza slid under his arm in the same expert way she'd been doing since they were seventeen. Jellal stuffed away his questions and focused on the _now._

Mirajane's house was of a size that reflected her new salary. When Laxus pulled open the front door his expression was flat and he clutched a drink in his hand.

"I thought you'd sit in the driveway forever. It's not good to let an old junker like yours idle, Fernandes."

Jellal was _offended._ "Excuse me? My car is in excellent shape!"

"Maybe one day you'll grow up and stop trying to connect with your youth," Laxus grumbled, stepping aside so they could enter the house. "Get a car for grownups."

 _"I'm_ not the dumbass who –"

"Language!" Mirajane said sweetly, appearing at the end of the foyer. "There are children present!"

"Children?" Jellal whispered to Laxus. "What's she talking about?"

"Her sister is in town and she brought her kid." Laxus shrugged. "Eat your swears and get a drink, asshole."

Jellal shed his coat and was the last to leave the foyer for the rest of the house. Erza pressed a glass identical to Laxus's into his hand when he joined them in the kitchen. The house smelled of all things delicious and his stomach rumbled.

"Did you skip lunch, Jellal?" Mirajane asked with a wink. "I hear that's your thing."

"Hey, my shifts are long and strenuous! I don't always have time to stop and eat."

"Is that why you've been such a grouch lately?" She slid a saucer across the counter toward him with slices of shaved turkey. Jellal ate the pieces and decided it had been foolish to skip lunch. He _did_ actually have time to eat most days – he was just easily distracted.

The air in the kitchen was heavy but comforting. It wasn't a hard task to let all the things that clogged his mind roll right off his back. The familiar tasting bourbon helped, too. His shoulders relaxed and Erza squeezed his hand. Mirajane pulled the last of the baking dishes from the oven and as she stacked plates on the end of the island, the high pitched laughter of a child spilled into the kitchen. She had the same silver hair as Mirajane but her eyes were a bright green. Laxus swooped the girl up in a fluid movement and she squealed.

"Uncle Laxus!" she said in the same rambunctious tone.

"You're going to give your mom a heart attack running around the kitchen like this. Too many hot things waiting to break on your head." The little girl laughed and Jellal felt his face twist into something both amused and confused. He'd never seen Laxus so – so _soft_ before. The same boy who'd both been beaten and beat others to a bloody pulp in a ring every Thursday was now good with children? When had _that_ happened?

"Oh, thank you, Laxus," a new voice said. Jellal's stomach flipped over and every hair on his body stood on end. Without his brain giving the order, his body turned to verify the voice. _Just to make sure._ Her hair was longer, and she was shaped differently. She no longer wore sparkly purple lipstick and fishnets with holes but her hair was still the same wispy silver and her eyes the same clear blue. "She's been driving me nuts today."

Jellal's mouth went completely dry when her gaze fell on him. She visibly startled and blinked. He couldn't help his stare. The girl he'd known wasn't the same as the woman in front of him but then he certainly wasn't the same as he'd been at fifteen either. _How_ had this escaped him? Now that he had all the puzzle pieces, Mirajane and her sister looked almost identical. He knew she had a sister she supported sometimes but...

"Uh," her voice sounded awkward and Jellal felt like an idiot. He'd made her uncomfortable with his staring.

"Oh, Lisanna, these are our friends, Erza and Jellal," Mirajane said, breaking the tension in the room. "Erza's mother is my boss over at the hotel. Jellal and Laxus went to school together. Jellal drives an ambulance or something," she added with a grin.

"Or something," Jellal muttered finishing off his glass. He'd never told Lisanna who his father was but he always suspected she'd guessed anyway. Or maybe that was his ego talking. If memory served, he hadn't thought about _her_ private life at all until Ultear's mother told him she wouldn't be around anymore.

"It's lovely to meet you," Lisanna said, inching past Laxus and taking a plate for herself and her daughter. Jellal's eyes were drawn to the girl again. He studied her face with an intensity he knew to be inappropriate. How old was she exactly? His head crunched a million numbers until Erza's elbow jabbed him in the ribs. If there'd been any bourbon left in his glass, he'd have sloshed it. She glared up at him with an embarrassing incredulity.

"Sorry," he muttered. Lisanna smiled at Erza and when she turned back to him the corners of her mouth twitched as if she were fighting off the same unbelieving expression as he.

Jellal _tried_ to keep his eyes off Lisanna and her daughter, Mia, he discovered, during dinner but he couldn't. Even after his belly was full of food and liquor and pie, he couldn't let it go. Erza poked him in the side every time she caught him staring but it couldn't be helped. Or maybe it _could_ be helped and he really was just an asshole making their hostess's sister uncomfortable.

Mia stood on a step stool beside Mirajane while Erza packed away the left over food. Lisanna excused herself to the patio. Jellal sipped a fresh glass of his mother's bourbon as he watched her from the window.

"What's your problem?" Erza asked under her breath, sliding the pack of cigarettes he'd left in his coat into his empty pants pocket. "Do you know her?"

"Who?"

"Snap out of it, Jellal," she hissed. "You've been staring at Lisanna and her daughter all night. What's with you?"

"I knew her once," he murmured, tearing his eyes away from the window. "Lis – Lisanna, I mean. Not the kid."

"Lis?" Erza prodded. Jellal shrugged.

"It was a long time ago."

"Go talk to her."

"I don't –"

"Unless you plan on being weird for the rest of the night and this holiday, I _insist_ you resolve whatever mess you're making in your head." She smiled up at him and took the glass from his hand. Erza left him by the row of windows and Jellal sucked in a heavy breath before slipping out the back door. Lisanna didn't turn to face him but he could see the cherry of her cigarette flare in the darkness.

"I'm sorry for acting weird at dinner," he said quietly into the night. "I don't know why I never realized you were Mira's sister. It seems obvious now."

Lisanna glanced over her shoulder and smiled. _This_ was the same. _This_ he recognized. "We do look quite a bit alike." She turned her eyes back to the garden. "How've you been?"

"Good, I guess. I don't, uh, I don't get out like I used to."

"Me neither. I think getting arrested that last time really saved my life." Lisanna's voice was nothing more than a whisper. "I was in a bad place."

"I can relate. I'm glad to be an adult, to be honest."

"Me too." Lisanna flicked the butt of her cigarette into a bucket of sand. She took a seat at the patio table and wrapped her arms around herself. Jellal hastily joined her.

"Hey, listen, Lis –"

She laughed softly. "No one's called me that in ages."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Ask your question. I know you have one."

"I seem to be transparent tonight."

"You've always been transparent, Jellal."

"Right," he breathed. "So, Mia. Is she..."

"She's not yours." She smiled at him again. "She just turned seven a month ago. I met the guy in a rehab facility in Clover. He's not around."

"Oh." He could not help his sigh of relief.

"Do you really drive an ambulance?"

"Yeah," Jellal laughed nervously. "It's... I never wanted to be involved with my family's business."

"If it helps," she said lightly. "I didn't know who you were back then, either. I saw the news, though. The stuff about your dad. I wondered if you'd come out of all that okay."

"I did."

"Good." Lisanna shifted in her chair and crossed her arms on the patio table top. "I owe you an apology. I never should've asked you to run away with me back then. It was a selfish thing to do and I was a selfish person."

"Lis –" Jellal ran his hands over his face. "You don't owe me a thing. I used you, too. Fifteen was a nasty year. We were just kids."

"Kids doing adult things." She picked at the sleeves of her sweater. "Your girlfriend seems nice. Are you happy?"

"I am. Are you?"

"I'm still getting there. Mirajane and Laxus have helped me a lot. I work with kids like me. Girls mostly. I think maybe if I can help them make better choices, then it'll keep the monsters under the bed away."

"I think keeping them under the bed is the best I can ever do," Jellal whispered. The palms of his hands sweat despite the biting cold. The phantom prick in his arm creeped the way it always did when he thought about the shadows under his own bed. "I see these kids sometimes. They're still high and shaking and fighting themselves. It's like trying to bail out the ocean with a spoon."

"Better to use the spoon than drown." The back door opened and air that still smelled of apples and cinnamon swirled out. Lisanna's face lit up.

"Mama? I'm tired and full and can you help me with my pajamas?"

"Yeah, I'll be up there in a minute, okay?" Her smile was more brilliant than Jellal had seen on her before. He realized the ghosts that used to lurk behind all her sparkling makeup were gone. When Mia closed the door behind her, Lisanna's eyes flit back to him. "That's my cue. It was nice to see you, Jellal. I'm glad you made it."

"Yeah, I'm happy for you too, Lis." He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Lisanna."

"It's fine. I don't mind Lis. Sometimes it helps to remember where you came from and how long the road is in between."

Lisanna left him on the back patio and Jellal finally pulled the cigarettes from his pocket. He swiped his thumb over the embossed logo on the front of the pack and realized he'd left his lighter in the glove box of the convertible. Erza's fingers carded through his hair and he smiled up at her.

"I didn't hear you come out."

"I'm not surprised," she said with a grin. "You've been in a cloud since I got in yesterday."

"I think I want to quit smoking," he blurted. Erza quirked an eyebrow. "And I want my own place and I want you to move in with me when you come home next summer."

"That's a tall order," she teased, leaning her hip against the back of his chair. "But I think we can swing it." Jellal closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of her fingers in his hair. "Did you put all your questions to rest with Lisanna?"

"I did."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe tomorrow." Jellal would scratch that particular itch tomorrow. Erza knew he kept his secrets on a shelf she couldn't reach. Eventually he'd pull them all down one by one, even the darkest ones that had been fired from the barrel of a heavy Desert Eagle but tomorrow he'd tell her about a silver girl named Lis.


End file.
